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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

We went downtown to a little cupcake bakery/cafe to celebrate my Birthday. This place was recommended by some of the girls on my local Nest board and it wasn't too far from my work, so off we went!

I didn't think to take pictures of the actual cafe, it was kind of a cramped space and it was pretty busy. I wasn't expecting that at first, but we were on University Avenue right by the U of M campus so I should have known. We even drove by the new TCF Stadium, which Matt was pretty impressed with. Little did he know, a wrong turn on my part took us that way, but hey, we'll pretend we had to go that way.

The handles on the door when you enter the cafe, look like whisks, I thought that was pretty clever :-) It was a cute little shop, it was also a cafe so you could order sandwiches, soups etc. I wish I would have taken more pictures, ooops!

We chose four cupcakes, two for the each of us. We decided to sit down and eat a couple and save the other two for another time. We rushed ourselves along because we weren't exactly sure the time limit of our parking spot. There was a sign that said both 1hr limit and one that said 15min limit. We didn't exactly know how to decipher them so decided we would hurry!

I ate the chocolate mint cupcake, and Matt ate his mocha cupcake. They were both very good. My frosting had a strong, but not too strong, mint flavor and Matt said the same thing about the coffee taste in his (strong, but not too strong). My cupcake was pretty crumbly and fell apart, but Matt's had nice texture and stayed together nicely.

They were both good, I just wish mine would have held together better. I'm excited to try my other one, The Betty Crocker. A vanilla cupcake, with a swirl of pink icing and sprinkles. Typical Birthday Girl treat, don't you think? Matt has The Coco Loco waiting for him at home, a lemon curd filled vanilla cupcake topped with marshmellow frosting and shredded coconut.

Overall it was a fun atmosphere. The employees were friendly, it was a nicely decorated cafe, tabletops were clean, there were seats available. I also enjoyed being able to watch the decorator pipe icing onto the cupcakes.

There was something that really freaked me out while we were there. While I was getting us some ice water, I noticed they had their patio door open, and as I looked over, what did I see? A baby mouse! Not kidding! The mouse did not, I repeat did not, go in the cafe, but it very easily could have. That really kind of grossed me out. If you own or even work at a cafe, I would suggest not leaving the door open intentionally! Eeek! The only other con that I have is there was literally, no parking other than the paralell parking right in front of the cafe, which had no room when we were looking for a spot. We parked a little ways up the street and took our chances with our time limit.

On our way home, we were stuck in rush our traffic! Bad idea Birthday Girl! I should have known going that way at around 4:30pm was going to be trouble. However, I really wanted to try Cupcake after hearing so many positive reviews. Although it really wasn't what I expected, it was still fun to go to! It kind of makes me want to start my own cupcake shop :-)

For dinner we went to ... Rey Azteca! We had a coupon, and it was close to home so we decided to go there. YUM! I definitely give it two thumbs up! We were seated promptly, they took our drink order shortly after we sat down, and then our server dissappeared. They were a little busy so I can understand though. The food was excellent and they have huge portions! Matt had fajitas and I had a plate of enchiladas that came with two tacos and a stuffed pepper. Very delicious, and very filling! They also serve tortilla chips with salsa and a white dip. The best I can describe it is a cucumber, ranch, sour cream type dip.

I have no pictures :( I think we were so hungry we were ready to eat! The margaritas were excellent as well!

I had a great Birthday! Lots of love and wishes from my family and quality time with my Husband! We closed off our night by stopping at Target and picking up toilet paper and paper towels (ahhh..the life of being an adult!) and went home to get ready for my Tastefully Simple party.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

We had a lovely Anniversary weekend. We spent both Saturday and Sunday enjoying eachothers company, reminiscing about a year prior. "What were you doing at this moment a year ago" I often asked my Husband. I even asked my parents, the Friday (10/9) of our Anniversary weekend, what they were doing a year ago to the day. My Mom thought I was talking about the 9th, which would have been the Thursday before the wedding, the day that my Dad was stung by a large group of bees! My Dad replied to the question, "Running all over the place!" Which yes, he was right! The few days before the wedding were a flurry of errands, last minute checklists, "Where's this?" "Who's got that?" "Did we remember..."

We had a gorgeous day for our wedding. We truly could not have asked for a better day. I will always say, the weather we had that day was the gift from our Angels in Heaven. They truly were smiling down on us. Here are a few pictures from our wedding:

It's fun to look back! I can't believe how fast a year went though! I don't think life will slow down either! I'm thankful to have Matt in my life, and I'm thankful for the memories we've had during our relationship. We're approaching four years together, and it's been wonderful! Here's to many more!

To celebrate our Anniversary, we went to The Melting Pot in Minneapolis. It was delicious! Neither of us had ever had fondue, and were excited to try it! It was a wonderful experience. It was such a romantic environment! Although I had told him about it, I was shocked to see red roses sitting at our table when we arrived. My Hubby followed my clues and asked them to add it to our table when he made the reservation. How sweet! This is our cute little booth, minus the roses. I didn't remember to take a picture until we were leaving!

The meal started with fresh cheese fondue, prepared right at our table by the waiter. Made with shredded cheese, a little bit of beer, and some other spices, it was ooey gooey deliciousness waiting for us to dig in! We enjoyed the cheese fondue with bread, cold vegetables, and apples.

Next up was our salads. We both chose caesar, a favorite! As we were finishing up our salads, our main course came. Our little booth table was now filled with food! We had a plate of our meat (lobster, steak, filet mignon, brat pieces, chicken and shrimp), we had plates to eat from, as well as a dish of vegetables to cook, and many sauces for our dipping enjoyment! We also ordered a couple drinks, mine was SO good! I ordered the 'Love Martini' made with peach schnapps, malibu rum, cranberry juice and garnished with a fresh strawberry. Matt ordered the Blackberry Margarita and wasn't too fond of it. Mine was so good, we ordered another and shared it during our fabulous dessert!

Here's an 'action shot' of our food cooking. We chose the Bourguignonne oil to cook our meat. It's a European style fondue. We had many sauces to choose from, including tempura batters which fried our food. My favorite was probably the Honey Mustard and the Sweet and Sour type sauce we had. A very full plate of delicious meats!

Last, but certainly NOT least, our decadent dessert platter and our ying yang chocolate fondue. We chose the best of both worlds-white chocolate and milk chocolate creatively swirled together! It was almost too pretty to even eat. We dug right in, and realized we didn't take a picture of our dessert options. This plate came chock full of gourmet desserts. Marshmallows rolled in crushed graham crackers and crushed oreos, cheesecake, pound cake, strawberries, bananas, and I think some brownies too.

As you can see, we (shamelessly) cleaned up our chocolate!! The waiter even brought us some additional strawberries and marshmallows for us. It was pure delight!

I think we're well accustomed to fondue, and we can safely break out our fondue pot we received as a wedding gift! I think fondue nights will be at least, a monthly occasion in our house!

I would highly recommend going to The Melting Pot for any special occasion!